In the past year, we continued work on a long-term project that aims to provide in vitro and in vivo evidence for a role of S. epidermidis phenol-soluble modulin peptides (PSMs) in the structuring and detachment of S. epidermidis biofilms. These mechanisms are believed to be crucial for the development and dissemination of staphylococcal biofilm-related infection. This work is still ongoing with a focus on in vivo aspects. In several collaborative efforts, we have investigated antimicrobial activities of S. epidermidis PSMs (with Dr. Gallo), quorum-sensing (luxS) dependent gene regulation in S. epidermidis and the molecular basis for the antibacterial effects of silver compounds (with Dr. R. Landmann), TLR2-dependent sensing of S. epidermidis (with Dr. Levy), genetic diversity of the ACME element in S. epidermids (with Dr. Diep), and S. epidermidis genes influencing biofilm development and biofilm-associated infection (with Dr. Gao).